But others question their motives, saying the schools are trying to snap up the best students and doing little overall good.
“It sounds as though it’s a policy that benefits low-income students, but when you cut to the core of it, it really is price positioning on the part of institutions that can afford to do so,” said Dr. Robert Massa, vice president for enrollment at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania. “The institutions that can afford to do this today are taking a short-term view to react to national pressure about controlling the price of higher education.”
Massa argues that the practice actually inflates the overall cost of higher education. He says if more schools followed Princeton’s lead, colleges like Dickinson would have to join the financial aid arms race just to attract good students. And where would that money come from? The tuition they charge everyone else.
He thinks colleges have better places to spend money — more professors, better programs — than on promises to students they won’t be saddled with even a penny of debt.
“Cut the tuition!” Massa says. “That’s the way to control the price!”
--Associated Press
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